7. Toy Story 3 (2010)
A moment occurs in the final scene of Toy Story 3 that was as emotionally devastating as anything I've wathed in a movie. Andy is heading to college and his toys were dropped off at a daycare center. He stops by to see they are all in the hands of a sweet little girl named Bonnie. He realizes she loves them as he did and is prepared to let go. Except for Woody. Andy pulls Woody from the box. Bonnie cries "Cowboy!" and reaches for him. Andy instinctively pulls Woody back. He isn't ready. Neither are we. Reader, I wept openly.
While the majority of Toy Story 3 is an escape picture, with the toys trying to breakout of the daycare and get back to Andy, the underlying theme is letting go of youth and moving on. When I moved off to college, I had to think about all the stuff I wanted to take with me. The toys stayed behind. Eventually, they were phased out of my life. I wish I had them now. Perhaps that is a sign of getting older. I am 52, after all.
As with pretty much all the Pixar movies, Toy Story 3 is a wonderful, sweet entertainment with hilarious set pieces, clever jokes, and an abundance of sentimentality. I honestly didn't know if a third Toy Story movie was necessary, since it came 11 years after Toy Story 2, but I was happy to be wrong. It manages to be fresh and interesting and funny. It fits nicely into the overall adventure of Woody, Buzz, and the gang, while being its own entity. I also thought Toy Story 4 was going to be unnecessary, but it is a logical next step in the progression after this movie.
The rest of the scene I mention I above is Andy playing with the toys one last time before he leaves. It occurred to me in that scene that we don't need to leave childhood behind. We can hang onto it by passing it on to other children. My grandson August will be here in a couple of days. We have gifts all lined up for him and will celebrate both Christmas and his first birthday over the span of a few days. I look forward to passing my childhood onto him as I did with my own children.
Toy Story 3 is a beautiful movie.